New SITE chief targets Asia Pacific members

By Ben Moore New Society of Incentive & Travel Executives (SITE) president Ms Carolyn Dow has stressed the importance of the Asia Pacific to the association's prosperity. Although admitting current membership is predominantly US- and European-based, Ms Dow said there are significant members within the Asia Pacific region. "Asia Pacific, which is still seen as exotic, is important to the global incentive market. There are some big players based here and we can learn from their provision of service standards. There is a real understanding in Asia Pacific of what an incentive needs," she said. "But the challenge for my presidency is how can we improve membership in the region. "We will build an advisory board to create an outreach programme to serve those areas that are struggling with SITE representation." Although Asia Pacific members represented just 17% of those attending as delegates at the 2000 International Conference, Ms Dow praised the local Hong Kong SITE committee for its efforts in organising the four-day event. "They have given us first-class support. We couldn't have run this event from our New York headquarters. We needed a large commitment from the local committee and the quality of service has impressed all our visiting members," she said. During her 12-month appointment as SITE president, Ms Dow will continue to work as head of sales and marketing at the Scottish Convention Bureau.